Starting New Lives
by DarthAnimus
Summary: Ramu has had enough and leaves Nexus. Alfred confuses Haplo... more than usual, that is. [slash]


Author's Notes: This is the first time I have actually written down an idea for a Death Gate Cycle fic so this is a bit simple. I've tried to keep the characters in-character, but I'm not sure how well I succeeded in Alfred. This is a slash fic(for those who don't know what slash is, it's male/male relationships) with a Haplo/Alfred pairing. I write slash often, but I don't usually write anything that might corrupt young minds. Meaning that I don't write lemons. To say this all shortly: first time writing, suitable for all ages if you don't mind slight slash.

And a special thanks to the writer of the Finnish Death Gate Cycle fanfic, "älä jätä minua, aka Marabou". You made me realize, that the only way to get more Haplo/Alfred fics on the net is to write them myself.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Death Gate Cycle", or any of the characters.

**Starting New Lives**

**By: DarkAnimus**

"You're being unreasonable, Ramu!" Bathazar roared from his seat around the table of the Council. New Nexus, the city inhabited by sartans and patryns, two races of god-like beings, was led by the Council, a group of five people: two sartans, two partryns and one who was a bit of both. Peace has been difficult to keep, since sartans and patryns had used to be mortal enemies.

"How can you talk of peaceful living with the patryns?" Ramu questioned. The son of Samah had been causing trouble for nine months now, trying to get seperate areas for patryns and sartans. He was hoping to make some progress now that the patryn members of the Council, Haplo and Marit, were gone. But Ramu was in for a suprise.

"We won't accept your plea, Ramu", Vasu said sharply. "Both sartans and patryns are happy here. Why won't you just give up?" "Because of my people!" Ramu roared. "Soon this city will be full of half-breeds that have lost their magic." A few agreeing mutters were heard from the crowd in the back of the room. The meetings were open for public and some of Ramu's followers always came with him when he was meeting the Council.

The third Council member present had stayed quiet. He hardly ever spoke in the meetings with Ramu, but that last comment was something he wouldn't take standing down. Alfred stood up from his chair.

"That claim is untrue!" he spoke. The whole room grew silent and Alfred could sense every pair of eyes in the room watching him. This was one of tyhose moments when Alfred was most grateful of Haplo's couraging presence. But the patryn had gone to the Labyrinth with Marit, to save some more people, and wouldn't be back too soon. Alfred gathered his courage to speak again.

"The different magics of patryns and sartans complete each other. Together the different runes grow stronger and complete tasks impossible for only one of the runes." Alfred's voice grew stronger with each word he spoke, while his mind woke the memory of the closing of the Death Gate. "I've experienced the power of these runes working together. This power saved all the worlds from the snakes."

Alfred knew that the images in his mind had appeared into the minds of his listeners, for the languages of both patryns and sartans had the ability to bring forth images and memories. A few amazed murmurs were heard. 'Well', Alfred thought. 'At least I made an impact.'

Alfred let out a sigh. "That's all I have to say." He sat down. The room was silent. Vasu smiled at Alfred, which helped the other man relax. Vasu turned to Ramu.

"The Council's decision in permanent, Ramu", Vasu spoke. "The sartans and patryns should learn to live together in peace. A new era is beginning."

Ramu was boiling in anger. His ears and neck had obtained a bright red color. "Then I will leave this city!" he claimed. "I shall built a new city for sartans in the abandoned land of North. And I shall take everyone willing enough with me." "We can't stop you from doing as you wish, Ramu", Vasu said. "You are free to leave. No one is forced to live here."

Ramu turned around and left the room. His followers were right behind him, but Alfred noticed that fewer followed him out than what had followed him inside. Soon everyone else had left, leaving the Council members alone.

"That was a brilliant speech you gave", Balthazar said to Alfred. "It really affected people", Vasu added. "Ramu came here hoping to gain power over people, but he left after losing it." "Ramu's followers are the same people that followed his father", Balthazar said. "Samah's followers are difficult to cunsult with."

Alfred only nodded at the phraises, feeling embarrased. "I..." he said. "I'll just go for a walk." At that he walked out of the room, and the whole Council building. He almost ran out, but as soon as he smelled the fresh evening air, he slowed down.

Alfred walked along the streets of New Nexus. That meeting had really worn him down. It was not easy to face Ramu's angered glare. Well, Alfred could not face **anyones** angered glare.

"Are you lost?" a voice asked suddenly. Alfred whirled around. He was now facing a man wearing a grey cloak. Unusual clothing in Nexus, but so was the battered pointed hat.

"Zifnab!" Alfred sighed in relief. "No, I'm not lost. I was just thinking." "Waiting for company to show up?" the old man asked. "No", Alfred replied. "Why do you ask?" Zifnab lifted an eyebrow. Just then Alfred noticed where he had wandered to.

"It's not usual for people of Nexus to come to the last gate, unless they're expecting someone, that is." Alfred shook his head at Zifnab's comment. "I wasn't planning on coming here", he claimed. "My feet just took me here." "The things we need the most are the things we don't realize needing."

Alfred blinked in confusion. It was true that Zifnab's words harly ever made sense, but this seemed to be than just meaningless words of an insane old man. Alfred decided to play the fools game.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "I don't need anyone...now." "And neither do I", Zifnab said. "I just want some time for myself without that dragon for once. I swear, he follows me around like a lost puppy." Alfred smiled at the old mans rant. Maybe his earlier words had not been anything after all. But the expression 'puppy' brought an image into his mind. An image of a black dog with strangely intelligent eyes...

Alfred let out a sigh. "Haplo..." he whispered quietly. "I never though I would miss you so much." Alfred had left his gaze wander and he now focused back on Zifnab, only to find out that the man was gone. "Typical", Alfred muttered.

Just then Alfred heard a short bark. The sound was completely unexpected and loud, so the sartan jumped and turned around.

A black dog was watching him. The dogs eyes held intelligence, but only in an animalistic sense. This dog looked very familiar, but Alfred recognised it as an ordinary animal.

"What are you doing here, little one?" Alfred asked. He reached out with his hand to pet the dog. However, his hand only touched air. The dog had disappeared.

Alfred rubbed his temples. He was really tired or he wouldn't have been having visions of black dogs. Alfred decided to head back home.

&&&&&&&

Alfred sat down on his bed with a sigh of relief. He truly was tired. All five Council members lived in the house that had previously belonged to Xar. This made it easier for the Council memebers to find each other if any problems occured. Each memeber had their own private rooms in the mansion; Alfred's rooms were in the second floor of the West wing, Haplo's were on the third floor, Marit's rooms were on the East wing's third floor, Balthazar's were on the second and Vasu's on the first.

Alfred reached to his nightstand and picked up the book he had left there the prevous night. Alfred opened the book and started reading. Alfred had been researching the oldest texts in the mansion ever since the closing of the Death Gate. He was trying to find out if sartan and patryn had ever been used together before. Alfred would have wanted to get the texts from the sartan library in Celestra's city of Surunan more than anything. Too bad the texts had disappeared in the flood caused by the snakes.

A strange spell caught Alfred's eye. There was an interesting rune structure on the page and a detailed description of how the spell was used. Alfred recognised all of the runes used in the spell but he had never seen them used like in the structure presented in the book.

The spell was old, and Alfred knew that it had not been used in ages. He suspected that no one even remembered it anymore. Or then they did not want to remember. There were notes saying that it was unnatural, after all. But Alfred saw no warnings in the instructions. The spell was perfectly safe.

Alfred smiled and picked out a piece of paper from the nightstand. He put it between the book, marking the page. Then he closed the book. He would try the spell out a nother day. It would be a special day and Alfred had a couple of months to make the preparations for the spell. Alfred carefully laid the book on the nightstand and leaned back into the pillows. Soon he was fast asleep.

_Two weeks later:  
_Haplo walked through the last gate, feeling completely worn out but also ingredibly happy. He and Marit had managed to save almost thirty patryns from the Labyrinth. It was more than they had ever been able to save before. And they had worked extra hanrd and long aswell.

"Welcome back Haplo and Marit", Vasu greeted them. "You had us quite worried." And indeed, there were over fifty patryns and sartans gathered outside the gate. Haplo searched the crowd with his gaze, trying to find one specific person.

"Where's Alfred?" he asked Vasu. "Probably in the library", the other man replied. "He's been there for weeks." "Two weeks to be exact", Balthazar put in. "He's been buried in book ever since the last meeting with Ramu."

"You had a meeting with Ramu?" Haplo questioned. "What did he want?" "The same as always", Balthazar said. "He wanted us to split the city in two, so that sartans and patryns would live seperated. He would have wanted to built a wall to seperate the halves aswell."

"So, how did you get rid of him this time?" Marit asked. "We were just going to say 'no', but Ramu wouldn't give up. He started ranting about half-breeds and weakened magic", Balthazar told them. "I guess that's how he got so many sartans to join him", Vasu added. "That claim actually made Alfred speak up", Bathazar commented. "Ramu lost almost half of his followers because of that speech." "What in the world did he say?" Haplo asked. "He told them how you and he closed the Death Gate." Haplo nodded, remebering clearly how he and Alfred had combined their powers to close the Death Gate and save the worlds.

"Well, that experience opened even my eyes. It's no wonder that it affected confused sartans aswell", Haplo said. Vasu nodded and speared Haplo a studying glance. "I assume that you would like to tidy yourself up", Vasu said with a smile. And indeed Haplo would have to take a bath. He was covered in mud, slime, and blood from various enemies he had encountered.

"If you would handle the new-commers..." Haplo started to suggest. "Of course!" Vasu said. "And now, off you go." Haplo left the gate and wandered through the still incomplete Nexus. Finally he arrived at the mansion.

&&&&&&&

Haplo was feeling very relaxed after the bath. He was also feeling really tired, but for some reason his feet didn't take him to his sleeping quarters. Before he knew it, he was standing outside the library doors.

'Well', Haplo thought. 'Since I'm here, I might aswell go inside.' Haplo opened the door and entered the large library. There, sitting by a dark brown desk, was Alfred. He was crouched over a piece of parchement, writing furiously. The room was so thick with magic that Haplo was sure that he smelled it. Haplo walked over to the desk and and placed his hands on Alfred's shoulders. Alfred froze.

"Hi Coren", Haplo greeted the sartan. Alfred's shoulders relaxed in an instant after he heard Haplo's voice. Haplo was the only one who used Alfred's sartan name(dragons or the strange Zifnab didn't count in Haplo's books). To be completely honest, Haplo was pretty much the only one who knew it. A fact Haplo was, for some odd reason, very proud of.

"Haplo!" Alfred jumped up from his chair and turned to face the patryn. "I didn't know you were back." "Well, I haven't been back for long", Haplo said and grabbed Alfred's hands. "I missed you." "Same here", was Alfred's reply. "It was only a month, but it felt a lot longer." Haplo only nodded his head. Without neither of the men noticing it, he had started to rub backs of Alfred's hands with his thumbs. He noticed that the skin had smoothened itself out.

"Haplo?" Alfred's worried voice called. Haplo lifted his gaze back to the sartan's face. "Huh?" "You zoned out. Is something troubling you?" Haplo shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong", he replied. Then, he added as an afterthought: "You've relaxed." "Well, yes..." Alfred said, blushing a bit. "What's so strange about that?"

"You've changed", Haplo pointed out. "You have confidence now. I can even sense your magic. I couldn't sense it previously because you kept it bottled up. You seem more...alive now."

Alfred's face had gained an even brighter shade of red. "I'm alive because of you, Haplo", he said gently. "If I hadn't met you, I would have just withered away."

Haplo was starting to feel awkward after that comment. Without thinking he spoke out. "What were you working on?"

Alfred sighed and pulled his hands away from Haplo's grip. "Nothing special", he said. "Just some ancient rune models." Alfred turned around and rolled up the parchement he had previousy been writing on.

"Shouldn't you be celebrating another victory over the Labyrinth?" the sartan asked. "I guess..." Haplo muttered. "I was thinking about just going to bed, though." Alfred only nodded and started picking up his notes and books from the desk. Haplo moved over to the desk to help.

"Haplo?" came a voice from the door. Haplo turned around to see Marit. She had also cleaned herself up.

"Vasu said that you'd be here", the woman said. "Come on, the people want to thank their savior." "You saved them too", Haplo said. "Can't you go alone?" "They want us both, Haplo", Marit said in a commanding voice that left no room for arguing.

'But I want to stay with Alfred', Haplo would have wanted to say. But he realized how childish it would have sounded, so he did not say it out loud.

Haplo sighed in defeat. "Okay, I'll come." He turned to look at Alfred, but the sartan still did not answer his gaze. Haplo sighed again and left with Marit.

"What was that all about?" Marit asked while the two walked through the halls. "What was what about?" Haplo asked back. Marith growled in annoyance. Haplo realized that she had been doing that a lot lately.

"What's with you and Alfred?" Marith asked. "Did you two have an argument or something?" Haplo shrugged. "I don't know", he said. "He just clammed up suddenly." "Did you say something wrong?" Marit asked. "I just asked what he was working on", Haplo replied. Marit looked thoughtful. "Think about all the things you talked about", was her advise. "I'm sure you'll find out what got him angry." "But he seemed disappointed rather than angry", Haplo said. "Then find out what disappointed him!" Marit commanded. "Now hurry up. They're waiting for us."

Haplo moved about, feeling restless. He didn't want to be surrounded by so many people that were so grateful of him. The life in New Nexus had changed drastically. Every time a person escaped from the Labyrinth, there was held a party in their honor. The new patryns had trouble fitting in at first, because of the sartans, but they learned to trust most of them after a while.

"You look troubled", came a voice. Haplo turned to meet Vasu's curious gaze. "Mind telling me what's wrong?" "Alfred", Haplo simply said. "Marit did tell me that you two had an argument of sorts." "How many people **did** she tell?" Haplo growled. "Just me and Balthazar", Vasu assured him. "Now what's keeping you two apart?" "That's just it!" Haplo cried out, not paying attention to Vasu's strange choice of words. "I don't know! Just because I didn't want to talk about how I've made his life worth living, he refused to talk to me at all!" Haplo started panting after his rant. Vasu gave him a knowing smile.

"See, it wasn't that hard to figure out, now was it?" the semi-sartan said. "What?" Haplo questioned. "Alfred's confused", Vasu replied. He was having much more patience with Haplo than Marit had had.

"What's he so confused about?" Haplo asked. "He's probably confused about you, Haplo", Vasu said gently. "You've affected him so much and he doesn't know his place anymore. He wants to know what he means to you, if you allow me to be blunt about it."

Haplo had sunk into his own thoughts by then. 'What he means to me...' he thought. 'What **does** he mean to me?'

"Go talk to him", Vasu suggested. "I'm sure that everything will sort itself out. "But I don't know what to say", Haplo pointed out. "I'm confused muself. He's also affected me. He helped me live." "Then how about telling him that?" Vasu said. Haplo sighed, nodded and scanned the room.

"Don't worry about Marit", Vasu said. "She's occupied by other matters." The round man had a sly grin on his face. Haplo suspected that the wine being served had been tampered by the former village chief. That would explain why Vasu had told Haplo not to drink it. Haplo nodded again and left the room to find Alfred.

&&&&&&&

Haplo leaned against the door to Alfred's room, feeling exhausted. He had run the whole way from the party building to the mansion and he hadn't stopped until he had reached Aflred's room. Haplo knocked. Soon the door opened, revealing Alfred's face.

"Haplo? What are you doing here?" the sartan asked. "I came to talk", Haplo aswered. "Ok..." Alfred said and opened the door completely. Haplo stepped into Alfred's room. Everyting was very Alfred-like, Haplo noticed. Everyting had been tried to put in order, but the result looked more or less chaotic.

"I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier", Alfred spoke quietly. Haplo turned to look at him. "It's just that...I'm so..." "Confused?" Haplo tried. Alfred nodded. "Everyting is so mixed up. Do you know what we are to these people?"

Haplo blinked in confusion. Vasu had told him that Alfred was confused about **them**, but here Alfred was talking about **other** people.

"I guess we're their heroes or something like that", Haplo said, deciding to play along. "Exactly", Alfred said. "We're their heroes, saviors, protectors...they might even want us to lead them." Haplo gave his friend a reassuring smile. "We have been doing a decent job so far", he said.

"I knew you wouldn't understand", Alfred said with a sigh. "You're the one to just go with the flow." "Well", Haplo put in. "Maybe you should try to help me understand."

Haplo walked over to Alfred and placed his hands on his shoulders. Alfred gave him a small smile and nodded.

"We've been thorugh a lot lately", the sartan started. Haplo nodded in response, giving the other man time to form his thoughts into words.

"I mean..." Alfred tried. "Not many people get to share their souls..." A slight blush appeared on Alfred's cheeks. "This must sound stupid..." he muttered. "I don't want out experiences to end here. I want to be sure that we will both be there to back each other up."

Haplo blinked. He had expected someting else from this conversation. He turned the confusion on his face into a gentle smile and squeezed Alfred's shoulders slightly.

"You can count on me, Coren", the patryn said. "No matter what happens, I will always be there." "Thanks, Haplo", Alfred said. "I will also be right behind you...always..."

Haplo smiled at the sartan. Suddenly he let out a wide yawn. "You should probably go to bed now", Alfred said with a smile. Haplo nodded in agreement and quickly leaned forward, grinning from ear to ear.

"And here's your good night kiss", the patryn said and plainted a light kiss on the sartan's forehead. "Good night", he said and was out before Alfred could react.

Haplo quickly rushed up to his own room. Once there he slammed the door shut and slid down to the floor. He covered his face with his hands. "Now why did I go and do **that**?" he asked from himself.

_Two months later:  
_Haplo let out a heavy sigh. Ever since he had given Alfred the good night kiss, he had tried to stay away from the sartan. First Haplo had only wanted to figure out the answers to the questions Alfred probably wanted to ask. When Haplo had finally understood the reasoning behind his actions, he was simply scared.

It was not like Haplo was afraid of Alfred. It was not like the sartan would hurt him if he found out. No, Haplo was afraid of himself.

"You've been awfully quiet, Haplo", Vasu's voice spoke suddenly. "Ever since that night I told you to go and talk to Alfred, to be exact."

Haplo turned his head to look at the part-sartan. "Are you getting somewhere with this?" he asked. "Did it make matters worse?" "I don't know... I haven't really had the courage to find out."

It was not usual for Haplo to admit his own weakness, but for some reason he was always honest with the gentle village chief. It was as if he **could not** lie to the other man, even if he wanted to. With Alfred it was different. He did not **want** to lie to the man he had shared souls with. Vasu and Alfred were the only people who could see through his attempts to lie. The only people besides his now-dead former master.

"He didn't want to talk about us", Haplo spoke to Vasu. Haplo felt like he needed to tell somebody. Somebody, who could give him advises.

"What exactly did he say?" Vasu asked. "He said that he wanted to be sure that we would stick together no matter what." "I think that a topic like that has everyting to do with you two." "Not in the way I thought!"

Vasu lifted his brow at the outburst. "What **did** you think?" he asked. "I thought-" Haplo stopped mid-sentence. He decided to try again. "I thought that he...that we..." Haplo let out a growl in desperation. Why could he not say it outloud?

"I don't think things are as bad as they seem", Vasu said. Haplo turned his head back at the other man. "What do you mean?" "Alfred told me that he wanted to talk to you. He said that he's sorry for not being able to spend time with you."

But **I** am the one who's been avoiding **him**!" Haplo put in. "Alfred probably thinks that you've just been waiting for him to make the next move", Vasu said. "And it seems like he's done so. He told me that he's been working on something for two and a half months and that he's finally finished with it. He said that he wants you to see it."

Haplo blinked in confusion. What could Alfred have possibly been working on? Finally the patryn nodded to his comrade and turned to leave.

"He's in the library, by the way!" Vasu called after him. Haplo waved his hand in both thanks and good bye.

Haplo had been feeling quite confident when he had left Vasu, but as he stood outside the library door, his resolve bagan to crumble. He took a deep breath and knocked at the large door.

There was a muffled "come in" from the room and Haplo opened the door. He walked into the dimply lit library and the first thing that caught his attention was the ring drawn on the floor. As Haplo moved closer, he noticed that the ring had been formed by complex rune structures. In the middle of the ring was Alfred, sitting with his legs crossed and something black had been placed on top on his legs.

"Good timing", Alfred spoke out, startling Haplo. The patryn turned from the black cloth to the sartan, who was watching him with bright eyes. Haplo noticed that they were clearer than before.

"You wanted to see me?" Haplo offered carefully. Alfred smiled, nodded and tilted his head, signaling for Haplo to come closer. Haplo looked a bit insecure. Alfred gave him a reassuring smile.

"There is no magic active a the moment. The runes have completed their task", the sartan said and only now Haplo noticed how hoarse his voice sounded. Sartan magic worked through singing and dancing, and it was obvious that Alfred had performed a complicated spell to lose his voice. The sartan was very vulrenable now, Haplo thought sadly. He quickly moved inside the ring, closer to Alfred. There was no danger in New Nexus, but Haplo's barely noticable attempt at protecting the sartan was caused purely by instinct.

Suddenly, when Haplo was only a step away from the sartan, the piece of cloth over the sartan's legs moved. Haplo stared in wonder at the pile of fur that crawled to the floor. The black dog watched Haplo with intelligent eyes and barked happily.

"What the-?" Haplo gasped as the dog sniffed his hand. He noticed that the dog had a pair of animals eyes. He sighed in both relief and disappointment. But then he remembered that there were no dogs in Nexus. He looked at Alfred, his confusion clear in his eyes.

"I had a vision", Alfred spoke. Haplo lifted a brow at that. "The night Ramu and his followers left I went for a walk. Without noticing it, I ended up at the final gate. There I saw this dog, but when I tried to touch it, it vanished. Later that night I found an old spell in one of the books. It showed how to create a living creature." Haplo's other brow rose aswell.

"Only a simple creature, like a dog", the sartan continued. "It took me so long to complete it, because I had to first make the wooden structure, where I needed to paint the features I wanted the creature to have. The other delay was that I had to use my own blood to draw the runes."

Alfred sighed at Haplo's horrified look. "It was necessary for creating a living being, and it also helped me manipulate the runes in the creation phase."

"Haplo growled in frustration. "Why did you create this?" he asked. "I thought you might need it", was the reply. Haplo blinked. "And because I wanted to. It's a very special day, after all." Haplo blushed. "Thanks", he muttered.

Alfred's face brightened up. "You can name him now", he said. Haplo looked at the dog and almost spoke the first idea he had. He shook his head. Better give this one a **real** name.

Haplo growled. "I'm not good with this", he muttered. "You created him", he said to the sartan. "You can also name him. I'll go with whatever idea you might have."

Alfred thought for a moment. "Side", he spoke. Haplo smiled. He liked that name. He looked at the dog and patted his head. "From now on your name is Side."

Haplo lifted his head to look at Alfred. "How did you come up with it?" he asked. Alfred blushed. "It's one of the old languages", he aswered. "I've been doing a lot of research on the ancient world. I found some books on the languages of that world. I got the word from one of them." "What does it mean?" "Bond. It means bond." Alfred smiled at Haplo. "I think it's fitting. After all, we were brought together by a dog similiar to this one."

Haplo walked over to the sartan and brushed his fingers across Alfred's left cheek. The sartan smiled and grabbed the hand. He looked at Haplo, as if trying to decide on something. He shook his head and then started thinking again. Haplo lifted a questioning eyebrow. Alfred smiled again and planted a soft kiss on Haplo's right cheek.

Haplo blinked, speechless, as Alfred pulled back and let go of his hand. The sartan started to walk past him, but stopped right next to him.

"Good night, Haplo", Alfred spoke softly. "...Good night..." Haplo managed to stutter. Alfred walked out the door, leaving Haplo to brush his right cheek with his fingers.

Finally Haplo let his hand drop and looked at Side with a huge grin.

"Looks like I may be rubbing in on him", the patryn said. "The old Alfred would have never dared to do that." His grin turned into a gentle smile as he thought about the kiss again. "Come boy, lets go to bed." The dog barked happily in response and followed the patryn out.

_**The End**_

Ending Notes: I can't believe that I actually wrote a pointless fluffy piece of nonsense. Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this. This was originally supposed to be the introduction to a longer Death Gate Cycle fanfic, but I have so many other stories going on(not only in that I don't think that I have time for it. But I might write it later, if I get enough positive reviews.


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